FRANKSTON Council officers have been briefed by federal government departments about the risk of “intelligence gathering” ahead of a planned visit from an overseas delegation.
A delegation from the Wuxi Municipal People’s Government in China is scheduled to visit Frankston later this year. The visit will mark the 15-year anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Wuxi and Frankston.
At their most recent public meeting, Frankston councillors approved spending up to $4000 from its sister cities budget on formalities, with most of the money to be spent on a formal reception event at Frankston Arts Centre.
The report on the matter prepared by council officers and published in the meeting agenda noted that the departments of Home Affairs, and Foreign Affairs and Trade, had met with council officers to discuss the visit. The officers’ report read “council officers were briefed by DFAT and Home Affairs in March 2026 on the Foreign Arrangements Scheme, which aims to create consistency across all levels of government. DFAT and Home Affairs also highlighted the importance of being mindful of community interference when managing international relationships, with mayors, councillors and business chambers being considered easy targets for intelligence gathering; and [recommended that the] mayor and councillors don’t engage with international representatives without council officers present.”
The published agenda pointed councillors towards online portals set up by DFAT, ASIO, and Home Affairs covering Sister and Friendship Cities. The agenda read that the “ASIO portal has clear guidance on gift giving/receiving”.
Cr Kris Bolam visited Frankston’s sister cities, including Wuxi, on a ratepayer-funded overseas trip while he was mayor last year. He said the mention of ASIO in the public agenda has put the sister city relationship at risk.
“The message in this report is akin to welcoming someone into your home while simultaneously whispering to the neighbours – in a loud voice – that the guest might steal the silverware,” Cr Bolam said. “In my view, this contradiction is counterintuitive. Greater care needs to be taken with future public reports, especially where there is the potential for unhelpful, indirect insinuations.”
The motion voted on at the Frankston Council meeting also approved “expenditure of up to $500 from the existing Sister Cities budget towards ceremonial gifts for inbound delegation attendees from Wuxi Municipal People’s Government, including the Wuxi Municipal People’s Government Mayor and Wuxi Municipal People’s Government Vice Mayor.”
Although all present councilors voted in favour of the sister city budget allocation, Cr Michael O’Reilly told the meeting that he disagreed with the concept entirely. He said “I think sister cities are a complete and utter waste of money, and they’re ridiculous, and they should be gotten rid of altogether.”
“If sister cities are so great, why doesn’t every council have them? And why do we only have four? Why don’t we have 50 if they’re such great things? They’re ridiculous, they’re a waste of money, and this is why we have a budget that we can’t afford everything,” Cr O’Reilly said.
Cr Brad Hill spoke in favour of the motion; he said “we have some longstanding relationships, and I think they’ve resulted over the years in some terrific outcomes.”
“We have relationships between our schools and overseas schools. We have a relationship between our business chamber and overseas business chambers. And honestly, I think the returns are much greater than we have put in. I think that’s pretty clear,” Cr Hill said.
Cr Bolam’s overseas trip last year cost ratepayers a little over $8000. Between 23 September to 11 October the former mayor visited Shanghai and Wuxi in China; Lincoln, Wichita, and Washington DC in the USA; Suva in Fiji; and Susono and Tokyo in Japan.
A report presented to Frankston councillors after Cr Bolam returned read that the trip had a “conservatively estimated total economic impact of $26.21 million and an ROI of 326,423.39%.” (“Overseas junket a ‘success’ – mayor” The Times, 25/11/2026)
First published in the Frankston Times – 26 May 2026